The Hall Monitor
by Chrys-DASL
Summary: When Francine is chosen as the third grade hall monitor, things get a little dicey in the hallway. Does she let the power go to her head? For my 10x10 Challenge/NaNo2018


Francine (1): Chosen One (4)

**THE HALL MONITOR**

Mr. Ratburn looked out at the squirming children, all of whom were eager to hear his decision. It was time for a new hall monitor, which came with a special sash and a book of tickets for them to give out to anyone behaving badly in the hall. The real choice came from Principal Haney, who picked a new student every two weeks to perform the duty. He rotated between each classroom, and this week's third grade pick was coming from Mr. Ratburn's room.

"Settle down, children," Mr. Ratburn said, knowing his voice would ease the squirming and the panic. He scanned over the room, "As you know, we need a new hall monitor next Monday to represent the third grade. For two weeks, this person will get to leave class once an hour to make sure all is well here in Lakewood Elementary. This is a big responsibility, and this person was chosen wisely."

The class sat enraptured. The last hall monitor was George, who spent most of the time getting his head stuck in open lockers and back to school decorations. It was a miserable two weeks for him, but this stint was sure to be better for whoever ended up with the job, a job that everyone but George wanted.

"Alright, the person chosen to be hall monitor is…Francine Frensky!" Mr. Ratburn cheered. The class clapped, and Francine looked truly honored. She accepted her sash and book of tickets before heading to the office for her briefing. The class continued their lessons, diving into a history lecture as soon as she was gone.

Throughout the day, everyone congratulated Francine, who seemed truly humbled by her new role. She explained all the things she had to look out for. If anyone was walking around with a hall pass, even another hall monitor, she had to write them a ticket. If anyone was being too loud, she had to write them a ticket. If she saw any trash, it was her job to throw it away.

"Wow, that sounds like a lot of work," Brain scowled.

"It is, but it's important work," Francine replied with a smile. With a big grin, she sauntered back into the school after recess, clearly eager for it to be Monday.

[LINE BREAK]

The turmoil was immediately noticed by Principal Haney. A crying boy was sent to his office with a ticket. He had a sore throat and was just getting water right outside his classroom, but he'd gotten a ticket. Principal Haney couldn't read the signature and didn't have everyone's numbers down yet, so he took back the ticket and got back to work.

But then the kindergarten assistant came by to say their decorations had been thrown away by a rogue hall monitor, and that was enough to get him to take action.

Principal Haney walked around the school as frequently as he could. Finally, just before lunch, he heard someone arguing near the teacher workroom.

"You have to have a hall pass!" a girl said firmly.

"I work here. See, this is my student I.D. badge from my college. I'm not a student here—"

"But you have to have a pass. Those are the rules," the girl countered.

"May I help you?" Principal Haney said, stepping around the corner. He smiled, "Ah, Mr. Blakely. How is your teaching position in fifth grade working out?"

"I desperately need to get back, Sir. Can I go?" he asked, a stack of printouts under his arm.

Principal Haney nodded, "Yes, Mr. Blakely, you may go. You, you get to come with me."

"But Sir, he didn't have a hall pass—"

"I heard. Come along," Principal Haney said, leading her back to his office. Once they were inside, he shut the door, "Francine, you can't do things the way you've been doing. Students are allowed in the hallway with permission from their teacher even without a pass. Teachers are allowed to roam the halls as well. Decorations are also allowed to be outside rooms, even paper ones that might look like trash from afar—"

"What are you talking about? I haven't thrown anything away," Francine scowled.

"What about the boy getting water? He came to the office crying—"

"I saw a boy like that but I ignored him. He said he was sick, so I left him alone," Francine replied.

"Well, what about Mr. Blakely?" Principal Haney asked, knowing he had heard most of the exchange.

Francine shrugged, "He started it. He asked if I was going to write him a ticket for not having a pass, and he got to arguing with me, and you heard the end of it. I didn't mind letting him go at all. He looked busy."

"Who else have you seen giving out tickets?"

"There's this bossy girl, I think she's in the fourth or fifth grade. She's definitely older. She was going to write me a ticket until Miss Tingley saw me and said the sash was enough. She looked mad though that she couldn't give me a ticket. I know she was down on the kindergarten hall too. I only went by once. There isn't much there so I turned back," Francine explained.

Now that he had the bigger story, Principal Haney sent Francine back to class. During her next round, Principal Haney let her know that the girl had been taken care of and was no longer a hall monitor. This was big news to Francine.

After school, the gang went over to the park to do a leaf project for their homework. Once they had enough leafs packed away, they got ice cream from a cart and ate them at a picnic area. When they were done, Francine told everyone the story of the bossy hall monitor girl.

Arthur immediately laughed, "So you're no longer a hall monitor?" he asked, which got more laughs from Brain, Buster, and Jenna.

"No, it wasn't me, I swear. I recognized the decorations from that ruler project we did in kindergarten, and the sick kid told me he was sick so I left him alone. I'm not that bossy, Arthur. That was a mean thing to say," Francine scowled.

"She's right, you know. Francine is responsible with her power. She'd never let it go to her head," Muffy said with a matter-of-fact attitude. The boys were still being rude, so Francine challenged them to a race, starting a second too early for them to react. The others didn't know they weren't ready, so when the boys complained about losing, no one listened. This was enough for Francine, who grabbed her things and walked home with her head held high.

~End

A/N: Piece 37 of 100 for my 10x10 Challenge. I'm doing this challenge for NaNo2018, but anyone can participate at any time. The themes are on my profile and you can PM me with any questions.

I loved the switcheroo on this one guys:D Let's be honest, Francine would easily let power go to her head, but this time I decided to cut her some slack. Hope you guys enjoyed it.


End file.
